d-day anniversary

PICTURES: D-Day and the Days After

US troops disembark from landing crafts at Utah Beach during D-Day after Allied forces stormed the Normandy beaches.(AFP/Getty Images)

Sixty-seven years after June 6, 1944, D-Day is still spoken of with reverence and awe. Perhaps no single day of the Second World War was more important in turning the tide against Nazi Germany. And it was done at great cost to American and Allied troops in an operation that some called a near suicide mission.

More than 3,000 American servicemen died that day trying to take just one beach, dubbed Omaha, and many more died at nearby beaches. ­Altogether, more than 9,300 American servicemen and -women are buried in the Normandy American Cemetery on the cliff overlooking the beach, according to the American Battle Monuments Commission.